


The First Step

by RoninReverie



Series: Dawn Syndulla Stories [2]
Category: Star Wars: Rebels
Genre: Abandoned Work - Unfinished and Discontinued, First Order, Gen, Resistance, Starkiller Base
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-05-31
Updated: 2016-05-31
Packaged: 2019-04-26 06:03:57
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,786
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14395863
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RoninReverie/pseuds/RoninReverie
Summary: A scrapped pilot idea for a Dawn Syndulla fanfiction series.





	The First Step

**Author's Note:**

> Originally posted on Tumblr: [Link!](http://roninreverie.tumblr.com/post/145219747019/the-first-step)
> 
> Also: [Fanart!](http://roninreverie.tumblr.com/post/145300393254/colored-dawns-rebels-sorry-in-advance-if)

It’s been 22 years since the Galactic Civil War came to an end, but a new battle was just beginning.  

With the First Order picking up where the Empire left off, and the Knights of Ren savagely roaming the galaxy to exterminate what few remaining Jedi stood in Supreme Leader Snoke’s way, the New Republic had their hands full just trying to keep pace with the dreaded First Order.

However, splinter group rebellions of uniquely skilled individuals were scattered across the galaxy, and one in particular was about to stumble into a mission that would change the Rebellion’s knowledge of this new war forever.

* * *

_**PEW! PEW! PEW!** _

“Way to go Codee!”

 _“What?!”_  He retorted, though his voice was masked beneath the wailing sirens and blaster fire that was exploding from the hallway.

“I thought you said you cut the wires  _before_ we got in here!”

“I did!” He scoffed. “Oh wait… did you mean all of them? No…what do I look like, some kind of droid? I’m doing the best I can here.”

The young Twi’lek girl returned fire with her small blaster pistol and ducked back around the corner where she and the Rodian were taking refuge.

“I seem to recall someone saying,  _‘oh I’m three times faster than any droid you’ll ever meet. I can get us into that bunker. No problem, Dawn!’_ ” Her voice returned to normal as she hassled at him further, “No offense, but I’ve known droids from the Clone Wars that can deactivate sensors quicker than you!”

She let her blaster fire connect with three oncoming Stormtroopers and their bodies slammed into the floor beside them. She glared at him with her teal eyes and pointed with the butt of her blaster at the pile of unconscious bodies to stress her point. 

“I can see how that might be contradictory…” Codee returned her stare with a tired expression as a knife twirled between his long, slender fingers “Look Dawn, do you want these alarms off or not?”

_**PEW! PEW!** _

She grumbled and took two more shots. 

“That would be  _very nice, thank you…_ ”

He stabbed the control panel and retracted his knife as sparks bled from the wires.The lights flickered out into complete blackness as the alarms drained away into silence. The First Order Troops mulled around in the chaos as Dawn and Codee managed to move position to a closer cover near the exit. 

“And  _you_  doubted me…”

“Well you killed the alarms—” Dawn whispered, albeit a little annoyed as she added, “But did you have to kill the lights and all the power too?”

He shrugged. 

“Does it make a difference to you? Can’t you use the Force and blast them either way?”

She let out a derisive sigh and let he lekku fall forward as she charged up her blaster.

“I can, it’s just more impressive when I can see them hit the ground.”

“I thought our fearless leader would be a lot less whiny when I signed up for this job…” He complained. “Look we got the drive already, so let’s blast these buckets and get out of here…”

She shot him a look even though he couldn’t see it and let her hand slide down her face as she focused on the movements of the troopers closing in from the dark.

“Oh fine…” Dawn sighed. “I sure hope that Dek and Caleb are having more luck outside than we are in here.”

* * *

 

“Caleb! What do you see up there?”

“I count ten troops up top, two by the door, and one passing over the docks in three…two…one…”

The Nautolan waited for the First Order watchman to pass over. He could hear the trooper’s footsteps fading along the platform as he passed by without even a hint of noticing the rebel beneath the water. Dek’s gray-blue skin masked him perfectly beneath the waves, and so long as the search lights didn’t stop on his location then he might as well be invisible.

“You’re clear,” Caleb informed from the awning above. “Should be two minutes before additional patrol comes by.”

He raised the macrobinocular from his helmet’s visor and readied the explosive charges that were linked to the buttons on his wrist guard. 

The transmission was hazy due to Dek being underwater, but at least they could still communicate this time. It made things a lot easier, but it would have been nice if they could connect with Dawn and Codee on the inside, or with Geony on the  _Paladin._

_Man did the New Republic need new equipment, or what?_

“Once you hear the boom, you’ll have about five seconds to make it into the bunker undetected,” he continued. “From there, I’ll draw their fire and give you enough time to get the package. Copy?”

“I copy,” Dek said, “But, I really hope that Codee and Dawn have that override on the door ready, so we don’t have another incident like last time.”

“I’m sure they’re fine?” He rolled his eyes doubtfully and readied his finger on the detonator. “Now get ready! And—Go— _Now!_ ”

_**BOOM!** _

_**BOOM!** _

##  _**KA-BOOM!** _

When the crackling explosives went off across the shipyard, the troopers quickly scurried to the noise to investigate, giving Dek enough time to leap from the water and make his way to the door.

He pushed the access panel, only to be denied entrance and he groaned, letting his head roll back as he muttered, “Blast it, Codee…”

“What’s wrong?”

Dek slid his nails between the door panels and started to pry them apart as he replied with a grunt of effort… “Power’s down. I’m going to have to open the door manually. What’s my window look like?”

_“Uh…”_

“Don’t move!”

Dek dropped the doors as his hands flew up to the sides of his head. He turned only to see the two patrolmen returned to his location with their blaster rifles drawn.

“I mean it, don’t move!” the other troop ordered.

“Good evening gentlemen,” Dek grinned. “Seems you’ve caught me in quite a  _compromising_  position.”

“On the ground rebel scum!” the left trooper shouted.

The Nautolan cracked his knuckles and stepped forward.

“Now, where are your manners? Certainly Captain Phasma taught you better than that?”

As the muscularly built Nautolan inched closer, now towering over them in height, the Stormtroopers got nervous and let out one cry of—

“Fire!”

But what they didn’t know was that Dek Lorrok was one of the strongest hand-to-hand fighters in the Rebellion. He diverted the blaster with nothing but his hand before smiling and letting his other fist do its work.

“Uh… Dek?” Caleb called.

“A moment Caleb!”

The sounds of punches and armor smacking erupted through the comm-link until the thudding sound of their bodies hitting the ground silenced all of their sounds.

“Take your time?” Caleb replied sarcastically. “Not like we’re on a schedule of anythi— _Uh-oh…_ ” He spun back towards the explosions and lowered his binocular lens only to see that the remaining soldiers had caught on to the diversion and started making their way back to the entrance where Dek was. 

Caleb took off to assist his teammate, his voice more concerned as he tried to connect to the semi-belligerent Nautolan. 

“Dek? Do you copy? Hey, Dek!?” he shouted. 

“I copy, I copy…” He laughed, slapping the dust off of his hands as went back to prying the doors open and returned Caleb’s conversation. “What’s our status?”

The whooshing sound of a jetpack followed by a clank erupted from behind him, as Caleb patted the Nautolan on the back and squeezed through the small opening in the door.

“Status is we’re kriffed. Got at least twenty troops closing in…Dawn and Codee must’ve triggered an alarm inside! Let me grab the package so we can hurry up and get out of here in one piece.”

“It’s pitch black in there,” Dek cautioned. “Are you going to be able to find it?”

Caleb couldn’t really explain it, but he could sense exactly where the crate they needed was. Like he could focus in on its location without having to see it or know it was there. It was a strange feeling that he couldn’t explain. This wasn’t the first time that this has happened, but he still wasn’t sure how to process it. He wasn’t really sure he wanted to either.

“Night vision in the helmet…” he lied. “Be back in two seconds.”

The sounds of more troopers approaching echoed closer and Dek strained to laugh once as he warned, “Better make it one.”

“Actually, take your time. We got your back!”

Codee and Dawn rushed over and formed a protective wall around the two boys as they fired back against the oncoming troopers.

“I’d actually rather not have to fight the entire shipyard, if it’s all the same to you…” Dawn argued, her head motioning for Caleb to get a move on.

“Agreed!” Dek grinned, though it wasn’t without it’s strain because he was still shaking to keep the doors open for Caleb.

“Do you need any help?” she asked sincerely, “That thing must weigh a ton? I can hold it for you if you—”

“What this?” He struggled, but played it off as he met her eyes with a smirk. “This is nothing. You focus on—”

_**PEW!** _

A stray shot flew between the small group of rebels as Dawn jumped back to protect her team.

“On them!” Dek chuckled.

Dawn reached to her side and unsheathed the lightsaber, pointing it towards her opponents as the red lasers bounced off of her blade. The blue light radiating through the night air was bright enough to be seen a parsec away, and the satisfying sound it made when the weapon ignited was enough to cause the First Order troops to pause for a moment in fear and lower their weapons slightly.

“Get the Jedi!” one shouted, and with that command, the barrage of lasers returned.

“Well, since our cover is blown anyway?” She shrugged and deflected the rapidly growing blaster fire as Codee and Dek held their positions. “How’s it going in there little brother?”

He leaped through the hole, riding atop the grav-lift attached to the crate they needed. Dek let the panels slide shut again as soon as he was out, and he and Codee stopped the box so Caleb could hop off.

“I got it!” he stated quickly.

“And we got our intel!” Codee held the drive up proudly.

“Mission success!” Dek shrugged.  _“More or less?”_

“Better signal for Geony, Dawn!”

“You got it!” She pressed the saber on and off rapidly until the three flashes of light were returned with the headlights of their modified YT-2400 light-freighter,  _the Paladin._

“Get to the ship and I’ll cover you!” Dawn shouted as the shuttle landed nearby.

“Don’t you mean  _we’ll_  cover you?” Caleb smirked beneath the blackened Mandalorian Nite Owl helmet, and readied his dual blasters for a fight to the finish.

Dawn couldn’t help but be proud of his enthusiasm, but he still had a lot to learn…

_“Nope!”_

She used the force to launch him into the  _Paladin_  before hurling herself into the air after her crew.

“Dawn!” Caleb complained.

“Stow it,” she shot him a warning look with a grin attached as she pointed out the open door, “Are you going to leave our calling card, or not?”

He removed his helmet and rolled his brown eyes with a huff.

“Ugh! Fine!”

##  **BOOM!**

With a single button, a large explosion rumbled the air around the ship and the crew looked out to see the bright orange insignia of the Rebel Alliance burned into the docking bay before the whole image fizzled away into smoke.

“Very nice!” Codee clapped.

“You’re giving your mom a run for her money,” Dawn teased, before climbing the ladder to the bridge and yelling, “Get us out of here, Geony!”

“You got it!” the little woman’s voice called back.

The hatch door closed right before the ship took off into the stars and away from the enemy warehouse. 

The First Order couldn’t even pack into their Tie Fighters in time to stop them now, and just like that, the Rebels were gone and another mission had gone—well it was ‘more-or-less’ a success like Dek had said. There was still a lot that went wrong—and a lot that Commander Page was going to reprehend them on as soon as they returned to base.

* * *

 

“We could have taken them!” Caleb argued.

“I know we could have,” Dawn spoke softly as she rummaged through their stolen crate. “But that doesn’t mean we  _should._ It takes far more discipline not to fight. _”_

He scoffed and fell back into his chair with a pout.  _“That’s just your dad’s way of saying you didn’t want to fight.”_

She shook her head at him with a sigh. He acted so seriously most of the time, that sometimes Dawn forgot that he was only fourteen years old.

She smirked and added, “You’ll understand someday.”

“Hey!” Codee slid down the ladder and leaned up against the crate. “So what goods did we manage to scrape up this time?”

“A few regulation blasters, some explosives, ammo—just the usual stuff that gets us by.” She huffed. “The credits and provisions are nice, but what we’re really after is on that drive.”

The Rodian turned the device over in his hands before removing it from the string around his neck.

“I’ll run a diagnostic before decrypting the counter virus, and let you know when the intel’s safe to pull.”

“The First Order is getting smarter,” Dawn huffed.

“Oh please, back-up decryption could have saved the Empire if they were smart enough to booby-trap their tech against people like us who try to pull it from their mainframe.”

“If they did that—” Caleb sat up. “Then the Rebellion would have never gotten the Death Star plans, and then where would we be?”

“I’m not saying I wish they had!” Codee raised his hands defensively. “I’m just saying that they could have used better protection.”

“Well, we’ll be sure to turn your resume into the First Order after we get this stuff back to Commander Page.” Dawn gave him a swift slap on the back before going back up the ladder. “Let us know what you manage to get out of that thing, or  _if_ you can get it open.”

 _“Please…”_  he rolled his starry black eyes and scoffed. “What do you take me for,  _an amateur?_  I can decrypt this thing in my sleep.”

“I just wish that you were as skilled at picking locks as you are at picking drives!” Dek teased from above. “What was that, Dawn—our third facility lockdown?”

“I counted forth,” she grinned.

“Oh  _hardy, har, har_ …”

“Come on Caleb,” Dawn motioned. “Codee has some serious work to do. Let’s get topside so we can come up with a story to tell Page that’ll make us sound more impressive than we actually were out there.”

“I don’t know, I thought we were pretty cool?” Dek said with a smirk as he met them at the top of the ladder.

Dawn gave him a look and ran her finger under his chin with a quick flick of her wrist at the end that both stole the Nautolan’s grin away, and also brought a new one to his face.

“Well if you think we were cool, Dek, then that settles it—we’re definitely going to need an alibi before we reach the base.”

He rubbed below his chin and hummed… “Your wit has grown sharper than your saber…be careful who you aim it at.”

She met his eyes in a soft way that made Caleb’s stomach turn and replied, “Oh, I don’t know…I think you’re tough enough to handle it?”  

“Blech!” Caleb gagged as he passed them in the hall and made his way to the command deck. “Geony, can you please find something to crash us into, so I don’t have to listen to those two anymore.”

He fell into the co-pilot’s seat next to the small young woman flying the plane. She had short strawberry-blonde hair and round brown eyes accompanying a face full of freckles. 

Geony was the oldest member of the crew on board the  _Paladin,_ but with her soft features, she looked as though she could probably be the youngest.

“Don’t make fun of your sister, Caleb,” she said. “They’re just talking.”

“Just talking? Oh come on, that’s flirting and you know it!” He pointed. “If they can’t own up and admit it out loud, then they shouldn’t gross the rest of us out with their banter…”

She pushed at a few of the ship’s control functions and let the ship fall into cruise so they could ride the hyperdrive all the way to the carrier ship where they were set to regroup with the rest of their base. 

“When you’re fighting a war, things aren’t always so easy kid,” she said. “It’s nice that they can have those little moments. Aldrin and I used to drive our squadron crazy doing stuff like that in front of them.”

Caleb lost the need to complain completely. 

He’d forgotten about Aldrin, Geony’s fiancé who flew starfighters with her in the New Republic Starfleet. _That’s why she was here, after all._  She still wanted to fight, but she couldn’t bear to be on the front lines with those pilots after what happened to Orange Squadron. Every last one of them were wiped out by the First Order. If it weren’t for their sudden and miraculous retreat, Geony’s shuttle would have been the last of her friends to fall.  

_She didn’t like to talk about it._

“Sorry,” Caleb frowned.

“Don’t be,” she smirked solemnly. “I’m sure if my brother had been there, then he would react the same way as you.”

“I didn’t know you had a brother?”

She hummed and shrugged her shoulders up and down.

“Well, we don’t really talk much these days…the war is a pretty sensitive topic for my family.”

“I’m so sorry!” Caleb sulked deeper into his chair. At this point, everything he had said to Geony had been the wrong thing and he never wanted to disappear or erase the last thirty seconds so badly in his life.

“Well it’s no  _picnic on Naboo_  but I—” Geony blinked and jumped once when she replayed her statement in her head. She waved her arms around spastically and exclaimed, “No!  _No!_  He’s not dead or anything serious like that!” She sat back when she saw the blood returning to Caleb’s olive-colored skin and let out a content sigh. “He and I are just fighting on separate sides of the war, that’s all.”

“You mean, your brother is with the First Order?!”

“Well, our mother was too, once upon a time. Have I never told you that?”

He shook his head and she smiled and stared intently out the viewport.

“Well they are, but as for my father, he once worked with the Empire, trusted them with everything that he was— _what else could he do, he grew up on Coruscant during the Emperor’s rise to power_? For more than one reason, he defected shortly after my brother and I were born, but my mother stayed until the Empire turned into the First Order, and by that time our parents divorced and we each chose a side to go with. I picked my father, and my brother stayed behind with Mom on Arkanis. I became a rebel, and now my brother fights with the First Order.”

“But you always seemed so—so happy?” Caleb stretched. “No offense, but your family sounds pretty  _kriffed_  up, Geony.”

She chuckled.

“I’m not the only person in the galaxy with skeletons hanging in their closet.  _You know what that’s like._ ”

“Yeah…” he huffed. “I guess I do…”  

Dawn and Dek walked up at around that time, laughing about something that would probably cause Caleb to cringe, but he decided to hold it in.

“So our story  _is_ : there was no power outage, we got the intel without being spotted, and we absolutely did not leave an insignia before we left, nor did I draw my saber to block blaster fire. Also there were about fifty guys and we didn’t have to fight a single one. You think Page will buy that?”

“No…”

“Absolutely not.

“Doubtful.”

Dawn sulked and accepted their impending doom with a shrug. She was supposed to be the responsible one of the group, but she was only 21 and the adventurous blood of her family outweighed that responsible thinking some of the time.

She wasn’t supposed to draw her lightsaber, not in front of the enemy, not ever. It was too dangerous to be labeled as a Jedi with the Knights of Ren on the hunt, but then again, Dawn could recall her father telling her stories of a similar time when he had gone into hiding—only he eventually accepted his fate and was able to open himself back to the Force. He said that he never regretted that decision to return, no matter what it ended up costing him. So Dawn decided that she wouldn’t regret it either.

_Commander Page was not going to like though…_

“Alright… well maybe this haul will lighten her mood a little bit, you think?”

“Not likely,” Geony said. “I don’t think I’ve ever see that woman happy. Not once.”

“Love the optimism going around here. No really. It’s  _really_ great.”

“Hey!” Codee rushed up with a holo-pad in hand. “You guys are  _not_  going to believe what I just found in that drive!”

“What is it?”

“Well, I don’t exactly know for sure, but—here just let me show you—” His voice cracked, and he pulled the image up on the holo-pad, revealing the symbol of the First Order with nothing but a single word written beside it.

“What?” Caleb sat up and studied the image.

“That’s what I’m saying!” Codee spoke eagerly. “It doesn’t make any sense! Nothing else on the intel referenced it except for this one graphic. It’s weird.”

“You think Page knows what it means?” Dawn looked to Geony for an answer.

“I’m not sure?” she shook her head. “I don’t even think I know what that’s supposed to mean?”

“Starkiller?” Dek read aloud. “A name perhaps?”

“Yeah, but a name for what?” Caleb frowned. 

Dawn studied the symbol and shut her eyes as a dark feeling wrapped itself around her mind. Whatever it was, this was nothing good and the Force was trying to warn her about that much. 

“I don’t know…” she swallowed. “But I have a bad feeling about this you guys.”


End file.
